It is well known in motor vehicles to provide a seat belt system comprised of a continuous length of belt including a lap belt end mounted on the vehicle floor outboard the seat and a shoulder belt end mounted on the body pillar which define the rear edge of the door opening.
In two-door coupe vehicles, the entry to the rear seat is obtained by tipping the front seat back forward and then stepping through the front door opening. In such two-door coupe type vehicles, the aforedescribed front seat belt system somewhat complicates access to the rear seat through the front door opening when the front seat back is tilted forwardly.
It is known in the prior art that the positioning of the lap belt end may be facilitated by enclosing the lowermost outboard lap belt end in a plastic sleeve which is pivotally mounted on the vehicle floor. The sleeve assumes a generally vertical and slightly forwardly tilted position when the seat belt is donned by the occupant. However, the sleeve can be pivoted downwardly and rearwardly to a generally horizontal position along the floor when it is desired to enter the rear seat so that the belt lies generally horizontally along the floor.
It is also well known in prior art seat belt systems to provide a shoulder belt sleeve pivotally mounted on the door pillar rearwardly of the door opening at an elevation above the occupant shoulder. The sleeve is associated with the shoulder belt and has a normal forward reaching position which conveniently disposes the shoulder belt across the occupant shoulder. This shoulder belt sleeve can be moved rearwardly about its pivot to a generally vertical position line alongside the pillar so that the shoulder belt portion of the belt is stored generally along the pillar and the door opening is cleared of any obstruction by the seat belt.
The aforedescribed seat belt positioning sleeves for the lap belt and the shoulder belt are manually pivoted to the desired positions by the vehicle occupant.
It would be desirable to provide some means for positioning the lap belt and shoulder belt sleeves at the desired position automatically and simultaneously.